WHILE most people supported the university policy on single-use plastics of the Ateneo de Davao University (Addu), which was implemented October 19, there were those who said that it was a hassle.

On their official Facebook page, Addu posted the items prohibited inside the campus such as plastic straws, PET bottles, plastic cup and lid, plastic utensils, plastic stirrers, sachets, all types of balloons, plastic bags, doypacks, tetra pak cartons, polysterene, and plastic or disposable gloves.

Some students commented that they need gloves for their laboratory work. Some also questioned the milktea and shake stalls inside the campus.

“So pano yung mga juices? And my beloved Kopiko 78? Do we have to pour them in a tumbler after we buy them? Lol,” a netizen commented on Addu's Facebook post.

The policy is part of the initiative of keeping the university plastic-free by banning single-use plastics inside the campus.

The university urged the students and other constituents to start using alternative materials like reusable tumblers and eco-bags to help with the advocacy.

“We congratulate them for implementing the ban on single-use plastics in their schools,” Chinkie Golle-Peliño of Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) Inc. said in a text message to SunStar Davao Saturday.

“It's a great move and we hope it will be sustained and adapted also by other schools,” she said, adding that the Ban Single Use Plastic Ordinance is on its first reading in the city council.

She added that Dabawenyos need the policy to cover all the public and private sectors and everyone needs to contribute to help address solid waste problems of the city. (LHC)